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You can receive the Afghan War News Daily Newsletter each day. It should arrive in your e-mail inbox at 5:00 am Eastern Standard Time. It is easy to subscribe. Send an e-mail to staff@afghanwarnews.info or go to www.afghanwarnews.blogspot.com and submit your subscription request in the "Follow by Email" dialogue box in the top of the right hand column. It is easy to unsubscribe. At the bottom of the newsletter click "unsubscribe" and you will be automatically unsubscribed.

Contract Helicopter Support for TAAC North

German forces in Afghanistan have recently contracted for civilian contract air with Basta Holdings Corp. The contract has an initial deployment of one helicopter for non-military logistical support. A medium-sized utility helicopter is now operating out of Mazar-e-Sharif (Camp Marmal) in northern Afghanistan. There may be an option for providing additional helicopters as needed. Read more in "Basta Holdings to Provice ACMI Helicopter Leasing in Afghanistan Through New Agreement", Yahoo.com Finance News, October 13, 2014.

NATO Public Affairs Handbook

The nature of warfare has changed over the last few decades. First the wide availability of television changed the dynamics of war coverage during the Vietnam War in the 1960's. The media coverage of print and television in the 1970s also afforded terrorist groups a means to get their message out to the world at large; commit a horrible act of terrorism and you will soon have the media's attention - usually resulting in "Why did they do this?" The Internet, email, and social media have further transformed the rapid dissemination of "news". This was quite apparent during the Iraq and Afghan Wars. To ensure that NATO gets their message out to the public (via the media) it trains up its public affairs personnel. One training mechanism is the NATO Public Affairs Handbook (July 2010) available at the following link:

http://www.aco.nato.int/resources/13/handbookforweb2010[1].pdf

Bulgarian Army to use Commando Select in Afghanistan

The Bulgarian Army will receive ten new Commando Select vehicles in 2015 in Afghanistan. These four-wheeled armored personnel carries offer survivability and mobility on the battlefield. The vehicle comes in many configurations and some models will carry up to 10 personnel (three crew members plus passengers). (Photo at left from Textron Systems website.) In the past Bulgaria has maintained a presence of over 600 personnel in Afghanistan. In mid-2013 the number was 383. This will likely be reduced as ISAF withdraws its forces in late 2014. Bulgaria's mission for quite a while was interior security at Kandahar's airport and the advise and assist mission. It appears that Bulgaria will continue to send advisors to assist the Afghan National Security Forces in 2015. Learn more on the vehicle purchase at Market Watch (Oct 13, 2014).

Women Drivers in Afghanistan

There are very few women drivers in Afghanistan. Not only must these intrepid drivers brave the traffic (in Kabul it is horrible) but they must endure the stares of men who have trouble with the vision of women drivers. Read more in "Women drivers in Afghanistan must brave the traffic and the stares", The Washington Post, October 13, 2014.

Taliban Kill 22 ANSF in Sar-e Pol Province

News reports are indicating that 22 Afghan security personnel were killed in an ambush in Sar-e-Pul province in northern Afghanistan. Eight more were wounded and seven were captured. Six convoy vehicles were destroyed. Northern Afghanistan has seen an uptick in insurgent activity in the past few years as ISAF forces have conducted their retrograde (withdrawal). In the north the (mostly European countries) have collapsed from the east and west into the center (onto Camp Marmal in Mes-e-Sharif). Read more in "Afghanistan Taliban kill 22 in mountain ambush", BBC News Asia, October 13, 2014.

Commander Pigeon - Female Warlord in Afghanistan

Here is an interesting story about a female Afghan warlord - Commander Pigeon. Read "My Terrifying Night With Afghanistan's Only Female Warlord", by Jen Percy, New Republic, October 13, 2014.

Female Afghan Journalists Behind the Burqa

There are a small number of female Afghan journalists. They face a number of obstacles in their work - among them threats from the Taliban and intimidation from conservative members of Afghan society. Read more in "Some Female Afghan Journalists Slip Back Behind the Burqa", Voice of America, October 11, 2014.

Four Challenges for Ghani

D. Suba Chandran has identified four major challenges for the new president of Afghanistan. They are listed as "One Country, Two Executives", "The Shifting American Focus Towards Iraq", "Advantage Taliban-Pakistan", and "It's the Economy, Stupid". Read the article in "The New Afghanistan: Four Major Challenges for President Ghani - Analysis", EuraisaReview.com, October 13, 2014.

Three Cups of Tea? Back in the Game?

It has been reported that the disgraced author of "Three Cups of Tea", Greg Mortenson, has returned to Afghanistan. His charity, the Central Asia Institute, underwent an investigation in 2012. It was found that he had spent millions in donations on his expenses, travel, and clothing. There were a number of fabrications in his book. Many of the schools for girls that he claimed to have built do not exist. The co-author of his book committed suicide. But despite all of these setbacks Mortenson is still working on his projects in Afghanistan. Read more in "Three Cups of Tea author returns to Afghanistan, trying to move past his disgrace", Stars and Stripes, October 13, 2014.

Daily Afghan War News by Email

You can receive the Afghan War News Daily Newsletter each day. It should arrive in your e-mail inbox at 5:00 am Eastern Standard Time. It is easy to subscribe. Send an e-mail to staff@afghanwarnews.info or go to www.afghanwarnews.blogspot.com and submit your subscription request in the "Follow by Email" dialogue box in the top of the right hand column. It is easy to unsubscribe. At the bottom of the newsletter click "unsubscribe" and you will be automatically unsubscribed.

ISAF To Pat Itself on the Back

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) will be running a social media campaign they are calling "Nations, Impacts, and Contributions" or NIC. It is a social media campaign highlighting NATO and non-NATO partners' unique contributions to the ISAF mission. The program runs from October 12th through December 31st, 2014 (the end of the ISAF mission). The campaign will use photo, video and print products and each of the more than 50 countries will get their "own day". This "feel good" campaign is dedicating one day to each of the nations that contributed troops. Read more in an ISAF news release entitled "ISAF recognizes nations through social media campaign (NIC)", ISAF News, October 13, 2014. ISAF has posted a video introducing the campaign and provided a calendar of events as well; so if you are from Estonia your day is November 3, Georgia your day is November 5, and Italy then your day is November 14. Looks like it is in alphabetical order; putting the U.S. last.

The NIC campaign can be viewed on the following ISAF websites:
www.isaf.nato.int
www.facebook.com/ISAF
https://twitter.com/ISAFmedia

Chancellor Merkel Wants to Extend German Mission

Chancellor Merkel believes that the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) will not be ready by the end of 2015. She believes that they will need assistance beyond 2015. The biggest camp where the Bundeswehr is currently stationed is Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. That camp is scheduled to close next year at the end of 2015. Afghanistan is still plagued by a thriving drug trade, rampant corruption, and a resilient Taliban. Germany has been the third-largest contributor of troops to the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Read more in "Merkel wants to extend Afghan mission", The Local DE, October 13, 2014.

Turkmenistan Fortifies Afghan Border

Turkmenistan is nervous about post-ISAF Afghanistan. The Taliban is thriving and giving the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) a tough time. Casualties for the ANSF have been up 30% this year. In addition, two districts in northern Afghanistan were overrun by the Taliban; one held for over three weeks before being recaptured by the 207th Corps. So Turkmenistan, following the lead of other Central Asian countries along Afghanistan's northern border, is fortifying the border. Read more in "Turkmenistan's New Afghan Border Policy", Radio Free Europe, October 10, 2014.

Tax Relief for U.S. Contractors

It appears that the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) signed by President Ghani will provide protection to U.S. firms and contractors who are providing services to the Department of Defense or other U.S. agencies. Read more in "Bilateral Security Agreement Could Mean Afghan Tax Relief for U.S. Contractors", The National Law Review, October 13, 2014.

Ghani and 1st Steps to Good Governance

It appears that President Ghani is making some very strong initial strides in establishing good governance in Afghanistan. He has made some excellent decisions in streamlining the governmental process. Thomas Ruttig provides a detailed analysis of Ghani's first days. Read The Start into the Better Governance Marathon: Ghani's first days", Afghanistan Analysts Network, October 11, 2014.

Plight of Women in Afghanistan

A news article in The Huffington Post updates us on the plight of women in Afghanistan. Topics such as "bride price', lack of access to health and education, poverty, regressive social norms, and detrimental cultural practices contribute to the many problems presented to women in Afghanistan. Read more in "International Day of the Girl: Afghanistan Through the Eyes of the Girl" (October 10, 2014).

Afghanistan Mining Industry and Women

Afghanistan is rich in mineral resources but still hampered by security and infrastructure problems in exploiting those resources. Observers are hopeful that the mining industry can assist in strengthening Afghanistan's economy yet some are concerned about the possible adverse effects on Afghanistan's women. Read more in "Afghanistan's Mining Industry, Crucial for Economy, Holds Risks for Women", United States Institute of Peace, October 10, 2014.

Drawdown Affects More than Troops

The draw down of forces from Afghanistan is affecting more than the troops who are deployed there. The U.S. will be cutting back to about 9,800 troops and NATO to 2,000-3,000 troops by the end of December 2014. Along with these troop cutbacks are the reduction in the contractor force. One of the biggest contingents of contractors is supplied by the Philippines. At one time there were over 6,000 Filipinos in Afghanistan. The number currently (Oct 14) stands at about 4,000. Read more in "Pullout of US troops to affect 4,000 OFWs in Afghanistan", Business Mirror, October 12, 2014.

Suicide Bombings Continue in Afghanistan

The suicide bombers continue to attack both the Afghan National Security Forces and NATO targets as well. Read more in "Suicide Bombers Kill 3 in Afghanistan", The New York Times, October 13, 2014.